India's ruling Congress party looked set to take an unexpectedly decisive general election victory as the 400 million-plus votes cast during the month-long election were counted this morning.

The party defied exit polls and analysts' predictions, which had indicated a much closer result. With more than 70% of the vote counted the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was set to take more than 250 seats and the opposition alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) forecast to take 160.

Sri Lankan forces said today they had taken control of the island's entire coastline, cutting off any sea escape for the Tamil Tigers amid growing international anger over attacks that have killed thousands.

The latest military advance appears to give the government full control of the coast for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, leaving the rebels trapped along with tens of thousands of Tamil civilians in a tiny pocket of territory in the north-east.

The Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has vowed to defeat the remaining rebel fighters and end the 25-year-old civil war by the end of today.

Hotels in Mexico's coastal resort of Cancún, one of the world's most popular getaways, are adopting extreme measures as holidaymakers scramble to cancel bookings in the wake of the swine flu scare.

Visitors to one hotel, The Royal, are being offered a "flu-free guarantee": anyone who contracts the flu virus within 14 days of checking out gets three free annual holidays.

The hundreds of thousands of refugees now pouring out of the mountainous Swat are used to cooler climes and clean air - but they are running straight into the perilous embrace of Pakistan's sweltering summer. Aid officials warn that the soaring temperatures are already taking a merciless toll on the refugees. Children in particular are falling victim to heat stroke and dehydration. And in such cramped conditions and with poor sanitation and little water, the heat makes it more likely that diseases will spread.

Already overstretched by the 900,000 people estimated by the UN to have fled from Swat and the surrounding areas of Buner and Lower Dir in the past three weeks, officials are bracing themselves for more. Yesterday thousands of refugees streamed from Swat after the military temporarily lifted a curfew, allowing residents to escape so that it can engage the militants in "street-to-street fighting".

Washington -- In an effort to stem the flow of money from mineral mines fueling the brutal civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the U.S. Senate is pushing ahead with new bipartisan legislation that would force U.S. companies to track and disclose the country of origin of minerals used in common electronic products.

Durbin, along with Senators Sam Brownback, Republican from Kansas, Russell Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, and Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, are sponsoring the Congo Conflict Minerals Act that would require U.S. companies selling products using tin, tantalum or tungsten, to disclose the country of origin of the materials to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Finance ministers and other executives busy discussing the future of Eastern European transition economies at a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development meeting were reminded of a country far from Europe which needs aid to transform its economy.

"I strongly recommend North Korea as a next candidate to become a recipient country, once it decides to transform itself into a market economy," Young Geol Lee, vice minister of strategy and finance, said in a speech. "Please bear in mind that North Korea has great potentials as a future client of the EBRD."